SI.com's Stewart Mandel answers a question from his weekly CFB mailbag about South Carolina and had some interesting observations about Clemson and South Carolina.

The Gamecocks have owned their in-state rival, winning five straight meetings at a time when Clemson, like South Carolina, is enjoying sustained success. In fact Dabo Swinney's program has probably garnered more national acclaim than Spurrier's when the latter is clearly stronger. It's a rare instance where SEC membership works against South Carolina, which gets lost sometimes in the clutter other of ranked teams from that conference. Conversely, in the ACC, only Florida State gets more respect than Clemson, which only reached the Orange Bowl this year because of that bowl's ACC partnership. But once there, the Tigers defeated a Top 10 Ohio State team to boost their national credibility, much like last year's Chick-fil-A Bowl win over LSU. Perhaps South Carolina wouldn't sneak up on me if it did the same. Or if it didn't lose to a 5-7 Tennessee team.